As the reach and accessibility of computer networks such as the Internet increase, the amount of information accessible via such networks has grown exponentially. For example, as commercial enterprises increasingly embrace electronic commerce techniques, numerous websites offering information and purchasing opportunities for various products and services have appeared. Major media outlets commonly provide web-based versions of content previously available only through print or broadcast channels, and in some instances generate considerable volumes of content exclusively for web-based distribution. The reduction of cost, complexity and other barriers to entry into web-based content publishing has also facilitated the generation and dissemination of content by individual creators. This phenomenon is perhaps best illustrated by the increasing number and popularity of commercial opportunities, referred to as e-commerce, which offer the ability to sell goods, services and information online.
As the amount of online content increases, the difficulty of locating content that is of general or specific interest also increases. Unlike libraries, which may employ standardized systems of content classification such as the Library of Congress System or the Dewey Decimal System, no standard for organizing and representing web-based content exists. Numerous search engines have evolved to attempt to index web pages according to the page contents (e.g., as given by the textual content actually displayed by the page when loaded into a browser or client, or by concealed metadata such as tags associated with or embedded within the page). Such search engines have further attempted to qualify the relevance of a given indexed page using other features of the page, such as its age and/or the number of links to the given indexed page from other indexed pages. For example, for a given keyword search, a page that satisfies the search criteria and is linked to from many sources may be considered a more relevant search result than a page having fewer external references.
While the invention is described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Any headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used herein, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.